Blog #7

For several years, my family and I owned a condo up in Canmore in three sisters village. Across the highway from where our condo was, there was a hill that my mom took my brother and me every time that we went up there. The hill was incredibly steep and went up about a kilometer or so. In retrospect, I am surprised that my mother let my brother and I go on it at all considering the environment of the hill. The left half of the hill was for the most part flat, but the right half had multiple ramps and jumps that propelled some people an excess of 5 feet into the air if they hit it straight on. I usually kept to the left side of the hill, but on the last run of the day (go figure) I went down the left side of the hill but about half way down the hill, a little kid about three or four years old stepped out from the treeline that lined the hill. I put my left foot out from the toboggan and pushed myself away from him, but straight into the right side of the hill and into the path of the largest jump on the hill. Normally I would have endured the jump and hoped for the best, but as fate would have it, someone happened to have wiped out right in front of the jump and was just standing there as if he were the only person on the hill. Rapidly approaching, I yelled at him, but he didn’t hear me because of the helmet that he was wearing. With no other option other than plow into the man and risk injury myself, I threw myself off the side of the sled and rolled another 10 feet or so before I even slowed down. The sled hit the jump, missing the oblivious idiot standing at the base of the jump as if nothing had happened. With a hot head, I stormed down the hill grabbed my sled and stormed back to the car. Although I was angry at the time, in retrospect, it was kind of a fun and memorable experience.

Blog # 6

When I was young, my brother really wanted an R2-D2 robot from star wars so for his birthday my dad and I drove around the city for hours looking for this little robot for my brother. We finally found it at a toys R us. It was a voice activated robot that was about two feet tall, did dances, and had a little cup holder that deployed out the front of the robot. When we gave it to my brother he was the most excited that I have ever seen any child. It made me happy to see my brother so happy. With that being said, after a small amount of time, I felt like the tiny little robot had begun to replace me. With that being said however, I was still very happy that we got that for him. For the entire rest of the week he lit up like a light bulb every time that he saw that little blue and white robot. Also when he had his friends over, he had this impeccable sense of pride in this toy whenever he got the opportunity to show it off to anyone who would pay attention. That is definitely the happiest that I have ever seen any kid.

My favorite part of Christmas is the morning of when my family and I enjoy a meal of cinnamon buns, wifesaver, fruit salad, and of course eggnog. After we finish breakfast, we all gather in the living room, turn on the fire, and turn on Christmas music and open presents. My family does not do large present as we view it as unnecessary to spend copious amounts of money on Christmas presents. Instead we do stocking stuffers which consist of smaller but still thoughtful gifts. After we finish opening Christmas presents we stay in the living room for the rest of the day until it is time to make dinner and just talk. When dinner comes, we have a classic Christmas dinner. It is turkey, stuffing mashed potatoes, carrots, and a lot of gravy. (The meal is then followed by hatred of one’s self for having consumed so much food)

Blog #4

As the laughter in the room grew and grew, the noise got quieter and quieter. As I battled the intense laughter to look around me, I saw that everyone in the room was laughing so hard that no one was making a sound.  This was a result of my comment previously made to My friend Jordan. We had been joking around as we always do, and he practically set himself up by making a particular comment about his relationship. Naturally, I took this and ran with it. I made the most glorious comment that I could possibly make. The moment I did, everyone I my circle of friends burst into hysterical laughter and didn’t stop. Still looking around and seeing that everyone’s laughter was beginning to come to a close, I sat back in by chair, wiping the tears from my eyes and looked around the circle. I could tell. This was going to be a fun night. 

Blog #3

A wave of terror flooded through me as I stumbled into the decimated shell of my home. I cautiously treaded across the kitchen floor and made my way down the hallway that led to my room. As I tip toed around the rubble that once made up my safe haven, my sanctuary, my mind flashed back to that night when it happened. It had been a month since what the media had called “The Perfect Storm” struck my small hometown in Missouri.  My family and I were all sitting around the living room watching “The Bourne Identity” on cable when our program was interrupted by an urgent news message alerting all residents in the area to vacate their homes immediately as there was what some were calling the storm of the century headed our way.

Convinced that it was simply yet another thing that the media had blown way out of proportion just like they had with the swine flu and countless other stories, we continued to watch our movie completely aloof to what may or may not be going on outside.

However our interest in this storm was peaked the instant we heard the dense rumble of thunder overhead. But something was different. This didn’t sound like the usual rumble that we heard around these parts. This sounded much more malicious. Like a predator on the hunt for its next meal. As the sinister grumble from the sky continued to grow. My family and I grew somewhat anxious. My mother suggested that we head the television warning and evacuate to a safer place but my dad being the stubborn headstrong character that he is insisted that we stay and that it was nothing to be afraid of.

After another hour or so, the thunder became more of a roar that a low rumble and the wind sounded like a screaming banshee outside our windows. At this point, even my father was uneasy and decided that maybe it was indeed a good idea that we evacuated. Agreeing, we all headed outside to where our jeep was parked. As my two little brothers and myself piled into the back seat, my parents stood motionless beside the vehicle almost in shock. Their eyes were fixed on something that was behind my brothers and me. It was out of our immediate line of sight so I scrambled out of the car to see what they were so very intently fixated upon. Suddenly frozen in shock just like my parents were, I stared down the road at a massive spiraling column of dirt and dust. My father, forcing himself out of his disbelief shouted as loud as his lungs would allow, “everybody out of the car!” my two brothers immediately fled the vehicle and dashed right back into the house and the rest of us were right behind them.

We all rushed into the basement, and hid under the stairs where the safest place during this kind of incident was. As we all huddled together, terrified at what was inevitably about to happen, not a word was said. Nothing needed to be said. We all knew what everyone else was thinking. We were about to lose everything.

We heard the tornado grow closer and closer. Indicated by the flying debris spiraling about outside and the continuously growing scream of the wind just inches away from us. We all braced ourselves as we heard the tornado grow closer, closer, and closer. Every muscle in our bodies tensed as we heard the vicious phenomenon that Mother Nature had coughed forth tear through the front of our house. We could hear everything above us being ripped apart. A violent swirl of confusion flooded my head. I was thinking of everything, yet I could think of nothing. Sheer panic and distress in the eyes of my family, I forced myself to seem as calm as I possibly could as everything that we knew and loved was being indiscriminately ripped apart directly above us.

The violent force of the tornado grew to be calmer as it passed over the foundation of where our house once was. Surprisingly despite the shear amount of destructive force that was looming right above us, the staircase seemed all but unharmed amidst all of the chaos. Alone, I stood up and went to make my way around the staircase. Right before I began to climb the steps, I looked back to see my mother shoot me a very uneasy look. Disregarding her worried glance, I slowly, ever so slowly, made my way up the staircase.

When I emerged from my basement, I was utterly shocked as I looked around. My house was completely and utterly destroyed. All that remained was the floor and some of the walls and rooms. The rest seemed to have been torn from existence.

I slumped back down the staircase, and huddled back into the circle that my family was in. Once again, no words had to be said. They all knew what I was thinking.

We all sat there for hours more until the storm had passed and it was safe to return to the surface. When we did so, a caravan that was sent to look for people who had not evacuated and stuck around greeted us. Feeling like complete idiots for not leaving when we had the chance, we sheepishly boarded the caravan and rode along until we reached undisturbed civilization. That was a month ago.

As I stood there in the remains of what was once my room, I scanned the floor for anything that may have been left behind. Realizing that literally everything was probably thrown half way across the state, I abandoned my search after a flimsy minute o r two. Walking back through the ruins, I stopped and closed my eyes, and imagined my home back the way it was before the disaster. My brother running through the house, my mom and dad discussing the latest current events, and myself glued to a computer screen looking at everyone’s latest Facebook posts. Reopening my eyes, I simply looked around, smiled, and treaded back to the car I had come here in. I opened the door and just stood there. Still not completely accepting what had become of my life. And to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if I ever would.

Blog #2

I woke up this morning to feel a chill running up my spine. I sat up with my covers wrapped around me and turned my head to look out my window only to be welcomed by an icy window and frosty landscape. It was winter once again. Knowing that I had to get up to go to work, I loathingly pulled myself from the warmth of my covers and got dressed. After I ate breakfast and brushed my teeth, I returned to my room to retrieve my winter jacket from my closet. I slipped my arms into the sleeves and did up the zipper. Dreading the thought of getting into my car which had a broken heater, I put my hands in my pockets. In my right pocket I felt the crunch of paper. Slightly annoyed with myself assuming it was an old receipt, I pulled it out of my pocket only to reveal an old 100 dollar bill. Amazed and excited, I tried to think back to when I would have got such a thing. I then remembered my 21^st birthday celebration with my family. My grandmother gave me 500 dollars which I spent 400 on buying a used dryer and some plates for my apartment. I then began to debate what I would spend the 100 dollars on. Maybe I would buy a new I-pod. Maybe I would put it towards a plane ticket to go to Cancoon. As I was debating what I would buy. I once again looked outside at the snowy landscape when suddenly I had an epiphany. I knew exactly what to buy. I figured I would buy a new heater for my car. 

My name is James Douglas. I was born may 25^th 1996 in St Albert Alberta while my dad was in the military. When I turned 5 years old, my family and I moved to Calgary and have been living here ever since. Since I came here I have gone to five different schools since grade 1. Those of which include St. Gerard, Good Sheppard, Heritage heights, St Paul’s Academy, and Calgary Academy. I am currently in the eleventh grade at Calgary Academy. In school my favorite subjects are biology social studies and English.

Outside of school I enjoy doing many different things. Amongst those things are climbing, cycling, air soft, paintball, hiking, weight lifting, swimming, and enjoying the company of my friends. Amongst that list of things climbing is definitely my favorite. I have only been doing it for a couple of years now, but it is definitely my favorite. When it comes to my taste in music there is pretty much nothing that I don’t like. I enjoy everything from jazz all the way up to metal music. I also really enjoy traveling. My family and I love to travel and are always open to learning the history and the culture of places different from our own.

I also have a job as a lifeguard at the Trico pool by south centre mall. I really enjoy that job because it is exciting, fun, and I really like the people who work there. Before that I worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant called San Remo, and before that I worked at a vet clinic as an aid to the vet and vet techs.

That is my life so far, once again my name is James Douglas, and I look forward to the upcoming year.